The joke's on you, Hillary

Last updated 00:10 22/04/2008

ANOTHER BLIP: US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton referred to Helen Clark as New Zealand's 'former prime minister'.

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Oops, she's done it again. United States presidential candidate and former first lady Hillary Clinton seems to have a knack for putting her foot in it when it comes to famous Kiwis.

In what the Labour Party would hope is more ignorance than prophecy, Mrs Clinton described Helen Clark as "former prime minister of New Zealand".

The gaffe came in a chummy interview with American magazine Newsweek, when journalist Karen Breslau asked Mrs Clinton for a joke: "Here's a good one. Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand: her opponents have observed that in the event of a nuclear war, the two things that will emerge from the rubble are the cockroaches and Helen Clark. [Laughs]"

Mrs Clinton also once said her parents named her after Sir Ed Hillary, a nice line till it was pointed out she was born more than five years before he climbed Everest, when he was still a lesser-known beekeeper.

She was recently caught out in another "mistake", telling a tale of flying into the Balkans under sniper fire. She told an audience she dashed head-down to waiting cars, and that an arrival ceremony had to be cancelled because of the danger.

CBS then unearthed a news video of her arrival, which was posted on YouTube.

The footage shows a serene Mrs Clinton strolling with her entourage from the plane, head held high, to be greeted in a traditional arrival ceremony. There was no evidence of snipers or terrorists.

She explained this away by saying she "misspoke". She called it a "minor blip", saying: "I say a lot of things - millions of words a day - so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement."

Miss Clark found the anecdote amusing and had some words of wisdom for Mrs Clinton - talk to her husband, former United States president Bill Clinton.

"As a current prime minister I spoke with him as a former US president in London only two weeks ago," she said.

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- © Fairfax NZ News

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4 comments

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H A Scott #4 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

As an American female, over 40 (Hillary's core supporter base), I am appalled by her lack of regard for the truth. Her "misspoke" comment only shows she has no concern for honesty nor integrity. Americans are sick of it from all of our politicians, hence the daily growth in the number of Obama supporters.

I am embarrassed by Hillary's New Zealand gaffes of late and her foreign policy gaffes overall. In a recent debate in Philadelphia, she said that if she were President and if Iran attacked Israel with nukes, she'd respond in kind and "obliterate Iran". Now she's making up major US foreign policy on the campaign trail! I don't see how Hillary, being a Democrat, would prove any different than our war-mongering Republicans. She's a big mistake that we hope doesn't happen.

Most of the remaining Hillary supporters in this country are just holding on because they think that it's a woman's turn to become our President. Maybe someday we'll have a woman - Just not THAT woman.

C J Dudfield #3 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Personally I rather enjoyed Clinton's anecdote about Clark and the cockroaches. It had a ring of truth about it - unlike anything else the aspiring presidential candidate may say. The fact that she is bursting out of her brassiere to become the first female US President has been apparent since the day she decided to keep tagging along behind her cigar wielding hubby. A female friend in the US once told me that Jimmy Carter was the only President who had never lied to her. If Clinton makes the Whitehouse, President Carter's enviable reputation will remain intact I suspect. Get on with it Obama - the world needs a breath of fresh air and the US needs a much wider field of view.

Evan L #2 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

What a terribly flippant excuse for light perjury! As an aspiring presidential candidate, (least of all one who once stood behind the lies of "Slick Willy" himself) it is certainly unacceptable to make multiple false statements and explain it away as coming under the blanket of your constant stream of verbal diarrhoea- possibly Hillary may want to go for "quality over quantity" if she is being misled by her own verbosity. Go Helen Clark- excellent reply!!

Isabel Witty #1 05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

How many times did Sir Hillary.....(Ed) climb Mount Everest before he succeeded reaching the top of that moutain? "Red River Valley" Ed sang a verse of that song over TV (Documentary) Smart-alex comments can all too often (in telepathy) rebound. What is the meaning of Mangatepopo. Headshrinkers perhaps. "Publish and be-damned" Quote: I can't remember by whom. Regrets.

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